Defence Munitions - Four Mill Something

The original layout plan was to be mainly 00, with a 009 feeder system accessing two lower baseboard levels via a working hoist.

This proved to be too big and cumbersome, and I lost interest. However, having got all the 009 stock & track, I thought a smaller version might be feasible.

I started on 14th November, this year, with a target exhibition date of 1st December, this year - a total of 16 days.

The track plan was worked out based on the points I had available, - 2 left and a Y. Two additional yards of 009 mainline track were purchased, and I had some N-gauge set track kindly donated by a fellow modeller.

I needed to create a track exit on the left rear (as viewed) and on the right. I designed and built a munitions factory building, with 3 rear entrances for rail lines (one of which would be the return loop). One was also made slightly larger, in order to fit a standard gauge open wagon.

The backscene was partly made from Faller brickwork and static grass.

In front of that I added an underground pipe run, and raised the rest of the ground to give a slightly sunken feel to the track.

Points operation is simple skewers in straws, with a pin into the tie-bar hole. The std gauge uncoupler is a sliding permanent magnet, using a few pieces of plasticard sheet and strip.

I also wanted a slightly wintery feel, so a dusting of snow was added after the static grass was added.

The layout made it's debut at the Hayle December show last Saturday.

The return loop was plugged in for the first time and despite missing a isolating fishplate, worked fine.

The transporter wagon positioning needs a little work to be consistently in the right place, but this is a minor issue easily resolved.

Overall, lots of fun to build, and there are lots more details to add before it appears in public again.